Burglars rob KZN police offices
January 21 2013 at 01:30pm
By MPUME MADLALA and SLINDILE MALULEKA
By MPUME MADLALA and SLINDILE MALULEKA
Durban - Brazen burglars made off with
computers, cellphones and torches – from the offices of the Berea police
detective branch on Sunday.
After gathering their goods, including
bulletproof vests and pepper spray, the two men then took the keys for a police
van, loaded their booty, and used it as the getaway vehicle.
The thieves, aged 18 and 39, offloaded
the contents at a house in Ndwedwe, then dumped the van at King Shaka
International Airport.
But their attempts to cover their
tracks came to nought when police checked with the vehicle’s tracking company
and the GPS co-ordinates led them to a house in Ndwedwe where, hours after the
break-in, the pair were arrested and all the stolen items recovered.
Despite the quick police reaction, the
boldness of the crime has left police and criminologists amazed at the
disrespect for the law.
Provincial police spokesman, Captain
Khephu Ndlovu, said the burglars broke into the offices in a converted house in
Lambert Road at 1am on Sunday. The building is clearly signposted.
“The men then found a key for a state
bakkie and loaded the stolen goods,” he said.
Ndlovu said when police arrived at work
they realised what had happened, contacted their tracking company and checked
the GPS coordinates for the stolen bakkie.
“From there police determined that the
car had first been driven to Ndwedwe and later to the airport. They went to the
house in Ndwedwe and on arrival found the two suspects there,” he said.
Ndlovu said that the pair showed police
where the stolen computers and other goods were.
The men were arrested and the bakkie
was collected from the airport parking lot. The two were charged with house and
business robbery and are expected to appear before a Durban magistrate on
Tuesday.
Reacting to the targeting of police offices
by criminals, Dr Nirmala Gopal, senior lecturer at the University of
KwaZulu-Natal’s Department of Criminology, said it was not just criminals that
showed a lack of respect for police, but also civil society.
She said a partial contributing factor
was poor service delivery from the police.
“People no longer view the police as
people who can protect society. It is not surprising that police stations are
being targeted,” Gopal said.
Unisa criminologist, Rudolf Zinn, said
it was a serious concern that the criminals were able to get into the police
offices and had knowledge of where the items they were looking for were kept.
He said it was also a worrying issue
that the criminals were able to break into the offices and make it out without
being caught.
“It shows that they have very little
fear of the police and they disrespect the police because they feel they are
ineffective and unable to catch them,” Zinn said.
He said criminology studies had shown
that criminals first measured the risk of being caught before committing a
crime. “If they feel they will not be caught, they go ahead and commit the
crime,” Zinn said.
However, Institute of Security Studies
researcher, Dr Hamabziriti Pamukamoyo, said this was an isolated incident and
should not reflect the attitude of society towards police.
mpume.madlala@inl.co.za
Daily News
